Why You Need to Invest in an Insured Lawn and Landscape Company

So someone with a truck comes up to your door and promises to work on your property—mowing, blowing, mulching and other landscaping for significantly less than what you’re paying your current landscape company.

Should you hire this person?

You want to save money―which is understandable—but is it worth the risk if this person isn’t insured?

For example, what happens when he’s pruning your backyard trees and one of the limbs falls down on your neighbor’s car? Or one of her lawn crew gets hurt while working on your property?

You may assume that your homeowner’s insurance will cover all of it. But did you know that you can still get sued by the independent contractor for injuries if the contractor doesn’t have workers’ compensation and general liability insurances?

In this article, you’ll learn why it’s a better investment to hire the insured landscape company compared to hiring an uninsured independent contractor.

Please note that the information in this blog doesn’t replace the advice of your insurance agent or lawyer.

Your Homeowner’s Insurance General Liability

When was the last time you checked your insurance policy?

Most homeowner insurance has a general liability clause that may cover some property and bodily injuries, but it may not cover lawsuits.

According to an article in the New York Times, lawyers and insurance companies don’t encourage their home-owning clients to hire independent contractors who don’t carry insurance because of the liability risk.

For example, don’t hire a contractor if he refuses to show you proof of workers’ compensation and general liability insurances.

Instead, it’s better to hire a well-established landscaping company. They’ll be willing to show you their certificates of insurance as well as other licenses and certifications for their services.

Why is it important that your lawn care and landscape company have workers’ compensation and general liability insurance?

Workers’ compensation pays for their employees’ medical costs if someone gets hurt on the job. Further, the employees give up their right to sue you, the homeowner.

When a contractor has general liability insurance, it’ll cover any damages and injuries that happen while they’re working on your property.

A lawn care and landscape company that invests in workers’ compensation and general liability insurances sends the message that they value you, your property and your neighborhood.

Plus, the landscaping company is saying that they can be trusted to do good work. If the company spends the money to be fully insured, then it stands to reason that they can be trusted to do superior work on your property.

And the insured landscaping company has more credibility compared to the independent contractor.